Snowden
acted heroically. He did so at great risk. He exposed lawless US spying.
He represents a noble tradition. Others did before him. Allies do it now.
Legions more are needed. Hopefully they'll be emboldened to help.

Doing so exposes fascist state governance. People need to know. America's
by far the worst. Activists want Snowden helped. More on that below.

"One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my
freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth."

"My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends
new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never
will."

"I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with
a faith in me for which I will always be thankful."

"On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that
he would not permit any diplomatic 'wheeling and dealing' over my case."

"Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do
so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders
of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum
petitions."

"This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and
neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools
of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those
who would come after me."

"For decades the United States of America has been one of the
strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum."

"Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article
14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected
by the current government of my country."

"The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using
citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has
unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person."

"Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to
stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody.
The right to seek asylum."

"In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers
like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned,
or powerless."

"No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid
of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government
it was promised - and it should be."

"I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts
taken by so many.

Edward Joseph Snowden

Separately he said:

"I remain free and able to publish information
that serves the public interest."

"No matter how many more days my life contains,
I remain dedicated to the fight for justice in this unequal world."

"While the public has cried out support of my
shining a light on this secret system of injustice, the Government of
the United States of America responded with an extrajudicial man-hunt
costing me my family, my freedom to travel, and my right to live peacefully
without fear of illegal aggression."

Perhaps Obama's intimidation campaign worked. Ecuador's Rafael Correa
backtracked. He did so disgracefully. He considers helping Snowden a
mistake. He distanced himself from earlier comments. He's not considering
asylum.

"Are we responsible for getting him to Ecuador," he asked?
"It's not logical. The country that has to give him a safe conduct
document is Russia."

"Mr. Snowden's situation is very complicated, but in this moment
he is in Russian territory and these are decisions for the Russian authorities."

Initially Correa suggested support, saying:

"We will analyze very responsibly the Snowden case and with absolute
sovereignty will make the decision we consider the most appropriate."

"The one who is denounced pursues the denouncer. The man who
tries to provide light and transparency to issues that affect everyone
is pursued by those who should be giving explanations about the denunciations
that have been presented."

Snowden expressed gratitude, saying:

"I must express my deep respect for your principles and sincere
thanks for your government's action in considering my request for political
asylum."

"There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the
human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on
earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the
world."

"Nobody has asked us yet" for asylum. "(B)ut if he
did, we would consider it very seriously."

He deserves a "humanitarian medal. If this young man is punished,
nobody in the world will ever dare to tell the truth."

"Snowden is a man who told the truth and demands protection under
international human rights law," he added.

Bolivia's Evo Morales said he's "ready to give political asylum
to people who expose spying activities….If we receive a request, we
are willing to consider it."

On July 2, RIA Novosti said Snowden withdrew his Russian asylum request. He did so in response
to Vladimir Putin's conditions. On Monday he said:

"If (Snowden) wants to go (to another country) and is accepted,
he can. If he wants to stay here, there is one condition: He must stop
his work aimed at harming our US partners, no matter how strange this
may sound coming from me."

According to The Hill, "high level" US/Russian discussions involve "find(ing)
a solution over the extradition of Snowden."

What's ongoing isn't clear. Earlier Putin said:

"Russia has never extradited anyone and is not going to do so.
Same as no one has ever been extradited to Russia."

Hopefully he means it. Challenging America matters. So does protecting
Snowden. Activists are on board to help.

Fundamental First Amendment rights matter. Without them all others
are at risk. On July 1, the Electronic Frontier Foundation headlined "Restore the Fourth Campaign Organizes Protests Against
Unconstitutional Surveillance."

On July 4, concerned Americans will mobilize on streets nationwide.
They'll do in support of Fourth Amendment rights. It protects against
lawless searches and seizures.

Out-of-control spying threatens them. Restore the Fourth matters.
Americans are on their own. If they won't challenge US lawless, who
will?

If they won't mobilize for Fourth Amendment protections, no one will
do it for them. On July 4 and every day, get involved for freedom.

NSA spying "represent(s) a stunning abuse of our basic rights.
We demand the U.S. Congress reveal the full extent of the NSA's spying
programs."

"This type of blanket data collection by the government strikes
at bedrock American values of freedom and privacy."

"This dragnet surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendments
of the U.S. Constitution, which protect citizens' right to speak and
associate anonymously, guard against unreasonable searches and seizures,
and protect their right to privacy."

"We are calling on Congress to take immediate action to halt
this surveillance and provide a full public accounting of the NSA's
and the FBI's data collection programs."

"We call on Congress to immediately and publicly:

1. Enact reform this Congress to Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act,
the state secrets privilege, and the FISA Amendments Act to make clear
that blanket surveillance of the Internet activity and phone records
of any person residing in the US is prohibited by law and that violations
can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court.

2. Create a special committee to investigate, report, and reveal to
the public the extent of this domestic spying. This committee should
create specific recommendations for legal and regulatory reform to end
unconstitutional surveillance.

3. Hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible
for this unconstitutional surveillance."

Nothing less is acceptable! Not now! Not ever!

A new update shows over 500,000 people signed the Stop Watching Us
campaign. Perhaps over a million will.